Have you dreamed of being able to afford to retire at a resort area, or maybe just own a place in a resort area where you can winter in the warmth and return to your home in the summer. What if we told you that you could do just that -- and for very little money.

The Saint Petersburg/Clearwater area of Florida on the Suncoast (West Coast), just across the bay from Tampa, offers that ability. I myself had never envisioned being able to retire to such a community. I was living in Portland, Oregon, when I discovered the Suncoast area of Florida. I was enticed by the crystal sandy beaches of the Gulf, especially Honeymoon Island and Fort DeSoto, the warm Gulf waters, the casual unaffected personality of the inhabitants and the beauty and charm of the cities and towns. I felt that I wanted to live here year round -- but could I afford it? I wasn't sure until I began investigating the manufactured home communities that abound in the area.

I looked at communities that had beach front and water front access. I looked at communities that offered amenities such as golf, shuffleboard, swimming pools, tennis courts, etc. I looked at communities that were near shopping and theater districts. I looked at communities which were near medical facilities and there are many here including one of the finest VA hospitals in the country, an important aspect for we veterans. I then proceeded to prioritize my desires and began looking for a waterfront community which offered me the capability to sail out into Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

The community I chose has such access -- no bridges to Tampa Bay. Within that community, I looked at new manufactured homes, which incidentally are as weather resistant, if not better, than their stick-built counterparts. I also looked at resales of used homes, While I would have preferred a new home, that didn't fit into my budget as I also wanted to be free to travel a lot around the world. The home I purchased, for just a few thousand dollars-and I do mean just a few thousand, more than adequately fit my requirements. So now I live in a manufactured home community that offers so many activities that I cannot begin to enumerate them all. Heated swimming pool, shuffleboard courts, community center that has parties and club activities year round -- and most importantly, community members who actually want to know you and with whom you become acquainted in very short order. But back to the budget aspect, there are many facets to that.

First, you should know that Florida has no state income tax. Secondly, you can choose as large or as small a dwelling as you wish, still for much less than you would pay for a regular stick built home. Thirdly, if you choose a lot rental community, your rent on you space is anywhere from $80 per month to just a few hundred a month. There are also Resident Owned Communities where you actually own a portion of the community and are entitled to have a say in the issues that affect your home. The only utilities you usually have to pay outside your rent, or monthly assessment (for RO communities and usually lower than rent payments) are electricity (mine is an average of about $55 per month averaged out over the year) and gas -- some communities have natural gas.

These communities all tend to offer yard maintenance, trash pickup, water and sewer and some offer free cable TV as well as other amenities. You virtually have no maintenance worries outside your own home. Many of the inhabitants of my community are northerners from the Midwest and Northeast of the United States and from all over Canada - we call them snowbirds. They have a home here that they come back to year after year, usually in September or October and stay until April or May the next year. We have a Golf Club, competitive Shuffleboard Club, Boat Club, many clubs devoted to crafting, workshop, exercise, cooking -- well, you get the picture. Choose what you like to do and there is probably a club for it already -- and if not, you can even begin one on your own.

We have huge banquets, like our Canada Night sponsored by our Canadian snowbirds, or New England Night sponsored on a rotational basis from among our New England States snowbirds (This last year it was Maine's turn and what a feast!). Every holiday is celebrated with some sort of fun and festivities. And then there is the fishing pier where one can just unwind and relax, drop a line in the water and take out snook, mullet and all sorts of good tasting fresh seafood. But far and away, the most important aspect of manufactured home community living are the people. People here watch out for each other, not in an intrusive manner, but rather in a caring way, wanting you to love the community that they call home. I was astounded that within the first year here, I knew several hundred people on a first name basis and we shared meals, trips to the theater, shopping, fishing and all kinds of sports.

Now that is what I call RESORT LIVING ON A BUDGET.
Signed, Hubert Dorsett, Americana Cove RO Community, St. Petersburg, FL.